


The Williams Christmas Conspiracy

by EarendilElwing



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Chistmas Fluff, Christmas, Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt Danny, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, McDanno Holiday Gift Exchange 2018, Minor Injuries, Steve Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 14:25:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17163632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarendilElwing/pseuds/EarendilElwing
Summary: Danny's plan to get Steve adopted into the Williams family, and maybe finally confess his love, goes awry.  What else is new?





	The Williams Christmas Conspiracy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flowerfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/gifts).



> For flowerfan, who requested: fluff with a touch (or more) of hurt/comfort. How about something like: one of them is missing someone or something on the holidays, but the other makes it okay; or stuck working on the holidays, but it turns out ok? or they have to work together to make someone else's holiday turn out happy? It has to have a happy ending, and no death or noncon.
> 
> How about a little of all of the above?

_Queen’s Medical Center,  December 24th, 18:00_

He felt like he was floating.

Danny had taken enough pain medication over the years to expect it, but it wasn’t the most pleasant of sensations.  He’d take it over the excruciating headache and the burning inflammation in his knee of course, but he also wanted to stay sharp enough to ensure that their case was closed before Steve got wind of his injuries.

He tipped his head back against the hospital bed and allowed a goofy (and only partially drug-induced) grin to turn his lips.  As chaotic as Danny’s day had been, there was no chance that Steve’s hadn’t been ten times as hectic. Hopefully though, if Danny’s family remained true to form, the insanity would prove to be the exact balm his partner needed to ease the hurt caused by the holiday, and their current case.

Any further thought on the matter ground to a slow halt when the door to his room eased open a crack following a quick knock.

“Detective Williams?” called a feminine voice.  “Mind if I come in?”

Danny yawned.  “Yeah, sure.”

A nurse in pale blue scrubs used her shoulder to heave open the door.  She dragged a mobile computing station in behind her, and smiled tiredly as she approached the bed.  “Good afternoon, Detective. How are we doing today?”

“Honestly?  Not great,” Danny said with a sigh.  He waved at his leg. “Tweaked my bad ACL taking down a perp.”

“Ouch,” she sympathized.  She positioned her workstation next to him and picked up a scanning gun.  “Did you at least succeed in capturing him?”

Danny held up his arm so that the nurse – Esther, according to her name tag – could verify his identity via the barcode on his wristband.  “Sure did.” He smirked with smug satisfaction. “In fact, he’s here too somewhere. Possible concussion and a dislocated shoulder.”

Esther glanced up from looking at her computer screen, her dark features slack with horrified shock.  “Excuse me?”

Danny held up his hands in a placating gesture before she could accuse him of police brutality.  “It wasn’t intentional, I swear. This whole thing was the result of an ill-conceived, split-second decision to catch my fleeing suspect using a skateboard.”

Esther blinked at him, momentarily speechless.  She turned back to her computer, her eyes flicking side to side as she read his medical profile.  Then she nodded in understanding. “Oh; that explains it.”

Danny furrowed his eyebrows.  “What?”

Esther shrugged.  “I was about to ask if I should schedule you for a psychological evaluation in addition to the MRI, but your file says you’re from Five-0.  I’m still fairly new to Queen’s Medical, but I’ve already heard plenty of stories about you and Commander McGarrett.”

“Hey, now!  We may be partners, but don’t lump me in the same circle with that Neanderthal animal,” Danny protested.  “I’m not the one prone to pulling crazy stunts.”

“And yet, you’re here, and he’s not.”  Esther injected another low dose of pain medication into Danny’s I.V. line.  “Speaking of, has he been notified yet?”

“No.  And please don’t call him, at least not until we’re done with all the testing and get my official diagnosis.”

“Mind if I ask why not?”

Danny sighed again.  “Long story.”

“Well, now I’m rather curious.”  Esther checked her watch. “And as you’re the last patient on my round for the next two hours, and we won’t be able to get you in for your MRI for a while, I’ve got some time on my hands.  I’d love to hear it, if you’re willing.”

Danny was about to decline, more out of consideration for her time and obvious exhaustion (going by the dark circles under her eyes), but something in her expression and body language changed his mind.  She was holding herself the same way Steve had last night, with a melancholy borne from loneliness. He didn’t know the cause of Nurse Esther’s sadness, but if he could ease it even a fraction by letting her in on his Christmas conspiracy, he was happy to help.

“Sure, why not?” Danny said.  “You want the trailer or the full theatrical version?”

Esther dragged a chair closer to the bed and collapsed into it.  “How about an abridged adaptation?”

Danny nodded.  “Very well. Let’s see, where to start?”  He scratched his chin and considered. “So have you heard about the recent string of robberies going on around Oahu?”

Esther shuddered.  “Oh yes; it’s been all over the news.  Half the population is scared to go out because there’s been no pattern to the types of places they’ve hit.  Corner drug shops, grocery stores, jewelers, gas stations…”

“Yep,” Danny confirmed.  “I won’t bore you with the details of the investigative slog, which by the way, is how most cases are solved, but after about a week’s worth of hitting the pavement and working informants, we managed to identify our key suspects.  The robberies were being committed by a group of young adults, most of them drug addicts just looking to score extra cash to feed their habit. But the ringleader was another story…”

* * *

  _Hawaii Five-O Task Force Headquarters,  December 23rd, 13:05_

“Jason Anthony?  Son of the big shot defense attorney?” Lou Grover asked.  “We all know the kid’s a prick, but armed robbery? Assault?  You expect us to believe that not only is he capable of crime on this scale, but he’s actually the ringleader of your tweaked-out gang?”

The stringy youth handcuffed to the chair bobbed his head vigorously.  “Yeah, _brah_!  The whole thing was his idea!  I went along because I needed money, but I thought it was a one-time thing.  Jason’s the one who wanted to keep going, and he’s the one that started beating on guards and bystanders.  Dude’s a psycho!”

Danny and Lou exchanged a glance.  All the evidence they’d collected so far, paltry as it was, and statements from the other suspects, supported this guy’s assertion.

“Okay,” Danny said.  “Are you willing to testify to that if this goes to trial?”

The young man was silent for several seconds while his addled brain processed the question.  Once it did, his eyes bugged out with terror. “What? No way! You’re even crazier than Jason if you think I’m gonna rat him out in court.  I shouldn’t even be talking to you guys now."

Danny shoved his hands into his pockets.  “Your choice, but doing so could get you a shorter sentence.”

“I’ll live longer in prison.”

Lou made a few more persuasive arguments to the contrary, but their prisoner was unmoved.  Danny and Lou brought the interrogation to a lose, handed him off to Tani and Junior for booking, and returned to the offices upstairs.

“I gotta say, this sucks,” Danny griped.  “Knowing who the perp is, but not being able to bring him in - it’s almost worse than not knowing at all.”

“I’m with you, buddy,” Lou agreed.  He held open the door to the Five-0 Ops Center and allowed his Jersey friend to pass through ahead of him.  They made their way towards the comm table.

Along the way, both of them discreetly glanced at Steve’s office.  Through the glass windows, they could see their boss perched on the front corner of the desk nearest to the leather sofa, on which sat a distressed family of four.

“How do you think that’s going,” Lou asked.

“In what way?  With their statements or how Steve’s handling it?”

“Both.”

Danny considered, doing his best to observe without the office’s occupants noticing.

He recalled from their introductions earlier that day that the Steve’s guests were the McConnell family, and they were the primary witnesses of the morning’s department store robbery.   Jonathan McConnell, the father and a security guard at the store, sat on the end of the sofa closest to Steve, wrapped in a blanket. He had suffered a minor beating at the hands of the perpetrators, but EMTs had checked him out at the scene and declared him bruised and bloody, but otherwise fit for interview.  His wife Dorothy, an elementary school teacher, sat beside him and fussed over the ice pack pressed to her husband’s left eye with trembling hands. Their two children - a high school senior football player named Stephen, and a middle-school surfer girl named Maria - were huddled together on the other side of their mother.  They, along with Dorothy, had paid a visit to their father to drop off his forgotten lunch before heading out to do some shopping, and wound up trapped in the security office during the robbery. As a result, they had witnessed the group of thugs, dressed in culturally inappropriate ninja costumes, assault their dad via the store’s camera monitors.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck.  “If I had to guess based on what I overheard at the scene, I don’t think they’re going to be able to give us anything new.  Mr. McConnel couldn’t get a good look at his assailants, and the other three still look too shell-shocked to remember anything off hand.  They might be able to tell us more after the adrenaline has worn off, but I wouldn’t bank on it.”

“Thought as much,” the former SWAT captain concurred.  “And - the other thing? You think our boy’s okay?”

That part was a little more difficult to answer.  The McConnells had escaped the traumatic ordeal with their lives.  In fact, this case was thus far devoid of death, though the unsubs escalating violence suggested that that could change at any moment.  No, what disturbed Danny, and the rest of the team, was the eerie similarities between the McConnells and the McGarretts. Jonathan, Dorothy, Stephen and Maria resembled John, Doris, Steven and Mary to a spooky degree, from their family dynamic, occupations and interests right down to the dark hair shared by the men, and the women’s fair features.

Danny couldn’t imagine what was going through his partner’s mind right now, seeing a family nearly identical to his own, or at least what his family once was, and might have been, had Doris’s clandestine operations hadn’t torn them apart.

The reminder of his loss was bad enough on its own, but it also happened to be December twenty-third.  Christmas was two days away, and regardless of spiritual beliefs (or lack thereof), it was the season of hope, love and family.  Even before this case, Steve had been down. Aside from all the awful things that had happened to him recently, Mary had informed him back in October that she and her daughter Joan would be spending the winter holidays with her fiance.  Add to that Steve’s ongoing single status, and the team’s decision to celebrate together after the New Year due to everyone having other plans, and it was no wonder that their SEAL was feeling a little sad.

Danny, having kept a dutiful eye on his partner at all times, knew that Steve was hurting, even if he didn’t admit it.  And Danny himself had some experience being single and lonely during the holidays, and hated the thought of his best friend sitting home alone, with only a pack of Longboards and his dog for company.

That was precisely why Danny had organized a little Christmas surprise for his partner.  It had taken a lot of careful planning and negotiation, but in the end, everything had come together just as Danny had hoped.

Unfortunately, this case had thrown a wrench into all of his hard work.  Besides the bad memories unintentionally brought on by the McConnells, the governor had ordered the team to close the case as soon as possible, preferably before someone was killed, and she didn’t care if they had to work through Christmas to do it.

Lou gave Danny a little shove.  “Well?”

“Hmm?”  Oh, right.  He’d been asked a question, but in trying to decide on a response, his mind had started to wander.  “I think Steve will say he’s fine. He might even believe it. And I’m sure he’d have no problem staying focused for the case.  But I’m worried.”

“Yeah, me too.  It sucks that we gotta work this case at all, and on a holiday no less, but it’d be nice if Steve could catch a break once in a while.  Guy’s WAY overdue for some kindness from the universe.”

Danny snorted.  “Considering everything he’s been through the last couple of years, I don’t really trust _‘the universe’_ ,” he added air quotes to the phrase, “or any other powers that might be to cut him some slack.  You know the old saying - if you want something done, you gotta do it yourself.”

Lou leaned his hip against the comm table and studied Danny.  “Sounds like you’ve given this some thought. Safe to say you have something in mind?”

Danny grinned conspiratorially.  “I already have a plan in motion, but I’m going to have to make a few adjustments to account for the case.”

Lou smiled back and raised his eyebrows.  “Well, now I’m curious. Let’s hear it.”

“In my office,” Danny said, gesturing to the room.  “And you guys come too,” he called to the rookies as they entered the ops center.  “I need you all on board for this to work.”

“For what to work, sir?” Junior asked.

Danny checked to make sure Steve was still occupied with the McConnells.  “I’ll explain. Follow me.”

* * *

 “So you wanted to do something nice for Commander McGarrett,” summarized Nurse Esther.  She tucked a strand of thick, black hair behind her ear. “That’s very kind of you, but what does that have to do with your injuries?”

“I’m getting there,” Danny insisted.  He gave her a playful wink. “Can’t rush a good story.  But I will skip past the planning phase to this morning…”

* * *

  _Oahu,  December 24th, 7:32_

In the nine years, they’ve been together, Danny had never seen Steve get car sick, not once in all that time.  Naturally, this led him to doubt his partner’s assertion, but considering how much Steve was whining, maybe he’d have to reconsider.

“Are we there yet?” Steve groaned for the tenth time in half as many minutes.  His eyes were clenched shut and he had one hand on his stomach. His other arm was reaching back over his shoulder to scratch Eddie’s ears.

Danny rolled his eyes and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.  “Relax, Super SEAL. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes. You can handle that; I believe in you.”

“Should’ve dragged out of the driver’s seat when you picked us up,” Steve grumbled.

“You could have tried,” Danny mused, “but I would have put up a fight, which A: would have wasted time we don’t have, considering we’re already late, and B: might have caused me some bodily harm, and you love me too much to do that.”

“I hate you,” Steve mumbled.

Danny took a right hand turn into a driveway and put the Camaro in park.  “First of all, I believe that’s my line. Second, that is a blatant lie and we both know it, and third,” he turned off the engine, “we’re here.”

Steve opened his eyes and looked around, frowning in confusion.  “Danno, why are we at your house? We’re going to be late for work.”

“ _I’ll_ be a little late, yes, but the team already knows.  You, on the other hand, will not be going in today. The governor has agreed to give you the next three days off, while the rest of us cover for you.”

“What?”  Steve straightened in the passenger seat.  “What about the case?”

Danny patted Steve’s thigh.  “Don’t worry; the team and I will keep plugging away at it.  We’ve already got most of the suspects in custody anyway. The only thing that’s left is to find some evidence to tie Jason Anthony to the crimes, and I think we can handle that.”  He removed his hand from Steve’s leg and grabbed his phone from the cupholder.

“But what if the group strikes again?  Or what it Anthony tries to flee?” Steve argued.

“I don’t think he’s stupid enough to attempt a solo heist,” Danny said.  “Besides the practicality of it, Doc Brown said he gets off on the fear and control he has over his lackeys, as well as the violence he’s inflicted on those unlucky bystanders.  Also, he thinks he’s smarter than us, ergo, he has no reason to run away. AND,” he hurried on, seeing as how Steve looked ready to interrupt with a counter argument, “if that’s not enough to convince you, I’ve got Jerry keeping tabs on his phone and vehicle’s GPS, plus some plain-clothes HPD officers tailing him.  He’s not going anywhere without our knowledge.”

Steve took a few seconds to process that.  “That’s good,” he conceded, “but that doesn’t solve our issue of tying him to the robberies, since his co-conspirators won’t officially testify against him.”

Danny texted a pre-arranged signal as he said, “Yes, you’re right about that, which is why the rest of us will work on it while you take some time off.”

“I don’t need time off.  What I DO need is to make sure we find enough evidence to nail that arrogant bastard.  Then maybe we’ll talk vacation time.”

Deep down, Danny knew what Steve meant.  Most cops found it difficult to walk away from a case knowing that the criminal was still out there, free and perfectly at liberty to repeat their offenses, and Steve was no exception.  But the less rational, untamed portion of his psyche jumped to a different conclusion. And as was usually the case, his thoughts translated to words without going through a filter.

“We will,” he snapped.  “And your team, including yours truly - who happens to be an excellent detective in his own right, thank-you-very-much - are more than capable of doing so while you take a step back and deal with all the shit you refuse to talk to me about.”  Danny opened the car door, just barely remembering to grab Steve’s phone out of the center console before he could. He slammed the driver’s side door and marched up the sidewalk towards the entrance to his home, wondering what was keeping his cohorts.

“Danny?  Hey, Danny!  What the hell are you talking about?”  Steve chased after him. “Is this about the McConnells?”  At Danny’s incredulous glance, Steve explained, “I overheard Jerry and Adam talking about that last night.  Look, you don’t need to worry. Whatever perceived resemblance they bear to my family is not going to affect my judgement on this case.”

Danny stopped to glare at him.  “I never said it would. I know you can compartmentalize when you need to.  But just because they won’t affect your feelings as a cop, doesn’t mean they won’t affect you as a person, a person who’s lost people he’s loved.”

Steve lifted a shoulder, unconcerned.  “It's not a big deal.”

“It IS a big deal,” Danny argued.  “As is Kono and Adam’s divorce, Joe White’s death, and Catherine fucking Rollins.  And I’m sure there’s a lot of other stuff going on that I don’t know about as well.  And since you won’t confide in me about how you’re really feeling lately, I’ve decided to call in the calvary.”

He continued up the walk and reached the front door just as it burst open.  Standing between its frame were three women, two with short blond hair that matched Danny’s, and one with long, dark hair.  

Whatever retort Steve had been forming died when he saw who they were.  “Mrs. Williams? Bridget and, I’m guessing, Stella?”

“Steve, how many times must I tell you to call me Clara?” scolded the oldest of the three.  She smiled and stepped forward to pull Steve into a tight hug. “Oh, it’s so wonderful to see you again, dear.”

“Ditto,” said Bridget, replacing her mother in Steve’s arms when she backed away.

When it was Stella’s turn, she reached up to ruffle Steve’s hair, as though he were another wayward little brother.  “You guessed correctly,” she confirmed. “Stella Williams-Mauel. I’m so happy I finally get to meet - what does my brother call you?  Steven ‘pain-in-my-ass’ McGarrett, I believe?” She grinned at Danny.

“Yes, and today he’s _your_ pain in the ass.”  Danny handed Steve’s pilfered phone to Bridget.  “Here. Don’t forget the rules: he’s not allowed to have this unless he gets a call from his sister or one of the team.”

Bridget accepted the mobile device and stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans before Steve could lodge a protest.  “Aye-aye, Sergeant!”

“Wait, what?”  Steve glanced between the Williams women, than at Danny.  “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

Stella crowded into Steve’s personal space and pawed at his hip.  “You should commandeer this too, Danny. He won’t need it if he’s not going into work, and I don’t want it around the kids.”

“Kids?  What kids?”

“Good idea.”  Stella and Clara latched onto Steve’s arms, keeping him too flustered to put up a fight as Danny unhooked the gun holster from his belt.  He tucked it under his arm and gave Steve the same look he leveled at Grace and Charlie when they misbehaved. “You can have this back when your time off is up.”

“What?  Danny, what the hell?”

Danny turned and walked back to the car, his mood lightening at hearing his mother rebuke Steve’s language in close proximity to impressionable children.  Grace, Charlie and a small horde of Danny’s nieces and nephews were just beyond the threshold of the door, waiting to pounce on Steve and help indoctrinate him into a good ole’ fashion Williams Family Christmas.

He regretted that he couldn’t be a part of Phase One of the conspiracy, but with hard work, and a little bit of luck, the team would find something to close this case before the day’s end.  And then, the real fun would begin.

**Author's Note:**

> Part two up shortly!!


End file.
